Homeopathy and the integration of feelings -7-

Having discussed very briefly the connection between feelings and sensations, I wish to continue with this theme and add the phenomena of miasms and miasmic classification.

When studying the work of Rajan Sankaran and reading through the cases in his books, we see how he sometimes puts to one side many of the presenting feelings of the patient and focuses on what seems more out of place, the sensations that seem to make less sense. In discovering the importance of sensations in suffering, he also shows how this helps to better see the true state of the person. I think that in doing this Dr Sankaran has found, within the expression of everyday feelings and emotions, the way of heading into what is deeper. This is because the sensations of the person do not so much indicate our feelings as we sometimes experience them to be. They are a more accurate reflection and outward manifestation of the feelings which are suppressed and hidden. We must keep in mind that the essence of a state of suffering is what we are not allowing ourselves to feel.

Dr. Eugene Nash once wrote “We, as homoeopathists, do not yet fully appreciate the value of sensations” (Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics, pg 67).

Another important aspect of Dr Sankaran’s work is the way he attributes to each remedy state a corresponding miasm it also belongs with. He further considers the main point of difference between the remedies of the same family of plants as being their different miasmic classification. However, although you can apparently attribute to remedies a strong affinity to taking a particular miasmic form it is not any definite miasmic difference that distinguishes the remedy states. In the plant families where the remedies produce feelings, sensations and generalities in common, each remedy also has its own distinctive kind of feeling which distinguishes a remedy from the others of the same family.

With the Compositae family for instance, the feeling shared by all the remedies of this family is of hurt - mental or physical hurt. Each remedy of the Compositae family has (produces) a different kind of hurt. With Arnica it is like the hurt of being injured. With Chamomilla it is more like being hurt with pains that are mortifying. The state of Cina seems like the hurt of something ‘shocking’ the person. The phrase ‘shocks from pain’ (S R Phatak) seems to be a central symptom of Cina. Abrotanum is very much a state of the suppressed hurt with helplessness.

With the Solonaceae family the universal feeling in common is of being frightened, terrified. Rajan Sankaran gives the prominent sensations of the Solanaceae remedies as being, “Sudden, violent, splitting, bursting, explosive, tearing, pulsating spasmodic, jerking, constricting, choking, shooting, sunstrokes, apoplexy, violent terror, pursued, murder, killed snakes” (Insight into Plants Vol 2).
In Belladonna, it is a very violent shocking feeling of being terrified. In Stramonium, the person feels lost terrified and all alone. Dulcamara is the state of being frightened and helpless, primarily as a consequence of becoming cold. In this way each remedy of the Solanaceae family has a distinctive kind of feeling of being frightened and terrified.

All the remedies of the Ranunculaceae family have in common the central feeling of mortification. Dr Sankaran has worked out the sensations most representative of these remedies as a whole to be, “Sharp, sticking, stinging, stitching pains; Raw nerves as if there is no insulation mentally, emotionally and physically; Shock-like pains; easy excitement; Morbid sensitivity; Vexed, distressed, annoyed, harassed; Insulted; sensitive to trifles; Bursting” (An Insight into Plants Vol 2). With Aconite, it is a sudden and frightening mortification, and in the state of its being suppressed can be so overwhelming the person thinks that they are about to die. Pulsatilla is a state where the child or older person can become quite frightened. In Pulsatilla the person is mortified with the experience of feeling all alone. Cimicifuga (Actea racemosa) is the feeling of mortification and helplessness. Even though Staphysagria can become like a state of insult and humiliation, I think the feeling actually being suppressed and which is produced by the plant is of a ‘stinging’ mortification.

The common feeling universal to all the proved remedies derived from the Loganiaceae family has been worked out by Rajan Sankaran to be like being ‘shocked’ by something, like the experience of something upsetting you and shocking you. This he further describes as being ‘shattered’, and also like having been let-down or disappointed. Each of the remedies of Loganiaceae has a distinctive form of this. Gelsemium very much produces a feeling of being shocked with tremendous fear. Ignatia is the state of being shocked and mortified, hence the symptoms of mortification recorded in the materia medica with Ignatia. It is this mortification which gives the Ignatia state a lot in common with both Pulsatilla and Cimicifuga, two remedies Ignatia is compared to. Nux Vomica is the feeling of being shocked and irritated. This is expressed “On seeing some irritating object she has a shock through the legs and through the whole body; she is almost insensible for an hour” (Materia Medica Pura). When someone in Nux Vomica gets angry with others and expresses their irritability, it can seem like they are trying to teach others not to do things around them that are shocking for them, whatever that might be. Spigelia seems to be another remedy which produces helplessness. An important sentence of Spigelia reads “Painful sensitiveness to touch of the whole body: at the slightest knock on any part there occurs pain and as it were a shivering about the part; even when treading there occurs a disagreeable shock in the body” (Materia Medica Pura). Spigelia is the state of suppressed shock and helplessness.

When we read in Rajan Sankaran’s work remedies classified as corresponding to a particular miasm we should think of this as the remedy producing a feeling that in suffering has an affinity to taking the form of that miasmic disposition. While it is most probable to find the person in Arnica, for instance, also in the Acute miasm, the Arnica state can also take form in any miasm typhoid or malaria, for example. Even though the state of Silicea has a strong affinity for taking form in sycosis, it will also be found in other miasms such as tuberculosis for example. People can change miasms and still be indicated for the same remedy.

Even someone in the state of a nosode of a particular miasm may have a different miasmic disposition to that which the remedy was derived. With a nosode, the miasmic disposition is potentised into a feeling. With Medorrhinum for instance, the miasmic disposition of ‘uncertainty’ has become the feeling itself. The uncertainty is no longer related to the non-integration of other feelings, it has become the feeling, and with it being suppressed the miasmic disposition of this non-integration could be of another miasm.

In sickness where the feeling of fright, or sudden fright is being suppressed, then the miasmic form of this suffering will frequently correspond to the acute miasm. The remedies which produce this feeling or a similar feeling of fright will be the ones most frequently indicated in the acute state. Likewise, when the feeling is of sudden loss or of helplessness, the miasmic disposition of the person may become that of typhoid and the remedies that also produce this are known to become indicated in some typhoid affections. There seems to be a connection being criticised or insulted, and the tendency of suffering coming out of this of taking the form of the cancer miasm. However, we cannot distinguish remedies by classifying them into any one particular miasmic form of suffering.

As the remedies of a synonymous grouping of plants will, in suffering, have many sensations in common with the others of the same grouping, every remedy also manifests sensations which are distinctive to that remedy alone as every remedy state is a feeling distinctive in itself.

If we consider again the remedies of the Compositae family we can see how a different feeling of hurt in each of the remedies also manifests as distinctive sets of sensations. Arnica it seems is like the feeling of hurt involved in being injured. It is like the hurt of a blow to the bodily tissue, or an injury to the tissue. With this, more prominent to Arnica are the symptoms,

More pronounced in Arnica is this fear of being struck, the weakness of the tissues, of the muscles and of the blood vessels. Because of this hurt which corresponds to being struck, there can develop in the Arnica state a lot of fear and anguish, especially at night.

The remedy Chamomilla is like the feeling of the hurt of mortification. The suppression of this leads the person into wanting to not be mortified in general, which generates a sensitivity to vexation, to insult and to being scorned. We also see in Chamomilla an expression of greatness, the opposite to mortified, “Delusion council, holding a” and “Indignation” (Dr Chawla). The hurt, injured feeling of compositae together with the mortification creates in Chamomilla tremendous sensitivity to pain. It can be a state where the pains are mortifying. The sensations individual to Chamomilla are of pains that are vexing, irritating, it is a sheer anguish from pain, there is cutting pains, jerking and twitching from pains heading towards convulsions.

The hurt of Cina maritima is more like the feeling of pains that are shocking you, like something giving you ‘shocks of pain’. We see this also in the symptom “paralysed shocks: patient will jump suddenly as though in pain” (Dr Boericke). It is a singular symptom of Cina “Mind; Jumping sudden, as if in pain” (Dr Chawla). There are many sensations in Cina of pinching pains, the child jerks from pain. They tremble twitch and can convulse from these shocking and irritating pains. Much like the Loganiaceae remedies the pains can become paralysing from the shocks.

The feeling of Eupatorium perfoliatum seems to be like the hurt of ‘aching’ pains, as if the bones were broken or dislocated. These pains have a great tendency of producing much irritability and therefore the affinity for the malarial disposition is compounded. The Compositae ‘bruised soreness as if beaten’ in Eupatorium is an aching soreness. Dr Nash distinguishes Eupatorium “The bruised feeling of Eupatorium is accompanied with a deep hard aching, as if in the bones” (Leaders). Like the other Compositae remedies, and emphasized here, is the symptom of being sad from hurt.

Bellis perennis seems to me to be like the Lily representative of the Compositae family. The feeling of Bellis is like of the hurt of being excluded. We see the impression of being friendless and disconnected, together with the friendliness, the desire for company and the friendly loquacity. Bellis also has the swelling and stasis of the Liliflorae remedies. It is used in injuries where from swelling and inflammatory swelling surrounding tissue is pressed upon and squeezed, a stasis takes place from impeded circulation. Bellis perennis is used in an inflammatory reaction where swelling cuts off circulation to tissue resulting in coldness and stiffness. Miranda Castro writes about the helpfulness of Bellis in pregnancy, “Groin pains Sudden. In Pregnancy. Legs weak. Pain, caused by a trapped nerve during the last two months of pregnancy, especially after the baby’s head engages, comes on suddenly while walking and may last only a few minutes. Groin pains are relatively common and can be severe enough to make walking impossible until after they have passed. Bellis perennis will help them pass quickly and prevent recurrence” (Homoeopathy for Mother and Baby).Bellis perennis is also used for the effects and continued effects of having become suddenly cold when overheated. Here, the sudden cold causes a very rapid flow of blood and ‘swelling’ of the blood vessels, just like what happens in ice-cream headaches. Perhaps Bellis is indicated for the effects of hurt which takes place in this. It is interesting that characteristic of both the Bellis and Carcinosinum states is a liking of thunderstorms, and Dr Sankaran places Bellis perennis in the cancer miasm.

Hi Piet thanks, I'm glad you find the articles interesting. And thanks for your interest. Our understanding of these things is a work in progress.

regards david

Posts: 12

CommentReply #11 on : Mon May 26, 2008, 14:40:28

Hi David,

I really like your approach, thanks for your answers and interesting articles :-)

Kind regard, Piet

Posts: 12

CommentReply #10 on : Mon May 26, 2008, 09:04:46

Hi Piet, con'd

Even a nosode of a miasm knows nothing of miasm because it is only the energy of the feeling of the miasm, it is not the miasm itself.

Thanks or taking interest in what I have written

regards david

Posts: 12

CommentReply #9 on : Mon May 26, 2008, 09:03:09

Hi Piet con'd

If there wasn't any innate force within of us needing to accept our feelings and accept ourselves then we wouldn't suffer and we wouldn't experience psora and miasm. In this way our suffering is protecting us and is keeping us close to ourselves.
Underlying all suffering is a healthy feeling, and the Homoeopathic remedy is the energy of this feeling. As recovery takes place this feeling comes alive and is resolved, and the miasm, the distance from self is lessened.

Also, regarding the idea of a remedy having a fixed miasm within it. A potentised remedy is just the energy of the feeling inherent within the source of the remedy. Miasm is about us suffering, being in separation of self. A natural healthy plant or a mineral etc knows nothing of miasm.
The miasm is what is going on inside us, not the remedy. The remedy is the healthy feeling we are not integrating.

con'd

Posts: 12

CommentReply #8 on : Mon May 26, 2008, 08:44:46

Hi Piet

I am a little uncomfortable discussing what Dr Sankaran is indicating in his work. And yes I acknowledge your point that there are differences in what I have written as to what is taking place.

Its just when writing that I think my ideas are complementary I am meaning all the work of Rajan Sankaran on the feelings and sensations of the plants and plant families, and the minerals and his descriptions of the different miasms.

In my articles I have tried to be clear about the work and insights of Dr Sankaran and what I think they indicate.

What I am saying is that what is taking place in suffering and sickness and also within the Homoeopathic process of cure hasn't been understood throughout Homoeopathy.

This is what I believe

When we suppress our feelings we separate from ourselves and suffer. And this is miasm, the separation. con'd

Posts: 12

CommentReply #7 on : Sun May 25, 2008, 16:32:17

Part 3:
So when we say a person is born as a Calcium and the chronic state changes to Lycopodium and later to Sepia etc, this is true on a certain level, but this is certainly not Sankaran's deepest dynamic level.
Sankaran's approach is pure Vitalism, but dividing symptoms by miasms or layers will add a 'material disease' component to the picture that will result in another (partial) remedy.
So the definition of the "whole state" depends how we look at this and on which level.
I'm not saying by this that what you said is not valid in a way, but you where directly referring to Sankaran and that is not correct.
Please do not mix two different strategies, although both might be valid depending on the situation and case.

I hope my point is clear,

Kind regard, Piet

Posts: 12

CommentReply #6 on : Sun May 25, 2008, 16:29:09

Part 2:
Sankaran's miasm (where this discussion was about), is a fixed and integral part of this plant, mineral or animal pattern.
Is it possible that this other song/ miasm can change during lifetime ?, No there can only be one and it is fixed!
The way Sankaran defines a miasm, comes close to Grant Bentley's definition as a one and fixed innate pattern.

But when we are using miasms on another level and meaning, saying when a person is born he is Psoric and when disease progresses he will become Sycotic and later Syphilic etc. It is a totally different approach on a less deeper level, because in this example the 'other song' through all these different disease phases will still be the same!
These miasms are different ways of expressions of this dynamic change in the vital force.
Unique to Sankaran approach is that he only uses the primary dynamic information and ignores the secondary expressions such as symptoms/ miasmatic expressions and constitutional characteristics etc.

Posts: 12

CommentReply #5 on : Sun May 25, 2008, 16:28:08

Part 1:
Hello David,

I fully agree that we can learn a lot from Rajan Sankaran and I also think he is not deviating from traditional Homeopathy.
But we should understand the level of his prescriptions, maybe not entirely new, but it is a specific strategy.
You think what you have written is complementary to the recent insights of Dr Sankaran.
I say it is not; you are using his remedy information, but are using it on a different level, so not following the latest insights of Dr. Sankaran there.
What is Sankaran searching for in his prescription? The other song!
What does this mean: Next to the human specific energy there is a non-human energy which plays its own song. According to him this innate other song is with a person from the time of conception. So Sankaran is looking for this ONE change in the persons life and disease.

Posts: 12

CommentReply #4 on : Sun May 25, 2008, 06:21:19

Hi Piet

In his work and in the way he looks at the materia medica Rajan Sankaran has given tremendous insight into the dynamics of suffering and of the remedies.
I have studid his work and have learnt so much from everything he has to say.
Also, I don't think his work is a new way or a different level of Homoeopathy. Rajan's work is pure traditional Homoeopathy, work which helps to find the remedy for the whole state of the person.
His work is part of the clear stream of knowledge and understanding that runs through from Samuel Hahnemann into the present.
I also think that what I have written is complementary to all traditional Homoeopathic thought and also to the recent insights of Dr Sankaran.

kind regards david

Posts: 12

CommentReply #3 on : Tue May 20, 2008, 14:59:58

Hi David,

Thanks for your explantion.
As long it is made clear that this is your personal view, because for Sankaran miasms are certainly not "miasmatic expressions". The miasmatic expression is the baseline of the current symptoms, but Sankaran's vital sensation goes beyond the level of symptoms and expressions.
For him the miasms is an integral part of the innate "other song".
So another meaning to the term "miasm" or at least in use on a different level....